Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

3/10

Starring

Liam Hemsworth

Jeff Goldblum

Jessie T. Usher

Bill Pullman

Directed by Roland Emmerich

One of the problems with making sequels is that they’ll always be compared to the first (Independence Day (1996)). People will pick apart how things were done and how they don’t measure up to the original. To make the comparison even deadlier, the farther apart the sequels are released, the harsher the criticism will be—especially if the first was a hit.

I guess that’s just how it is, and I don’t wish to change things.

So, the first movie was far better than this one for reasons that are easy to point out. First, the characterization in the original spanned different walks of life and behaviors. There was never a dull moment in the first movie, nor did you wish for more screen time for one character over another. In this new one, however, they seemed to skip making the characters lovable and focused solely on the action. There’s no depth or development for any character, mainly because there were just too many people involved. I never got drawn into the life of any one of them.

Then there’s the straightforward story the first film delivered. Aliens show up, we have no idea why they’re here or what they want—until they start blowing up buildings, leading to massive casualties. The humans band together and take down the aliens. In this sequel, they decided to complicate things: there are bad aliens who want to kill us and good aliens who want to help us kill them.

Yes, people, there are more civilizations (aliens) out there!

With all of this happening and the sheer number of characters on screen, it was hard to believe the world was coming to an end.

Now, the huge plus side of this movie is the visual masterpiece it delivers, which is on par with what I saw back in 1996 when I first watched Independence Day.

The movie’s plot is set twenty years after the events of the first film. The human race has advanced by using the technology salvaged from the alien race that attacked Earth. They’ve even developed a space-fighting air force, presumably preparing for another attack.

Well, the aliens came back, and this time we were ready for them (even though the characters in the movie didn’t seem to know that).

I’ve seen better sequels, and this one is a waste of your money.

Some characters from the first film return here, though Will Smith is only present as a photo on a wall.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

4/10

Starring

Johnny Depp

Anne Hathaway

Mia Wasikowska

Matt Lucas

Directed by James Bobin

Disney has had a wonderful 2016 with hits like Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book, Zootopia, and, most recently, Finding Dory.

Although this movie (Alice Through the Looking Glass) came out before Finding Dory, I took this long to see it because the excitement that led me to watch the first part of this sequel, Alice in Wonderland (2010), has faded over the years.

This then begs the question: How long should sequels be apart?

For me, this movie was already on its way down before it even started. Remember Once Upon a Time in Wonderland in 2014? It was a spinoff of ABC’s (a Disney-owned company) Once Upon a Time. The series failed to gain traction and was dropped after just one season.

That was a sign that the 2010 movie might have been a fluke. Even the 1951 Disney animated Alice in Wonderland wasn’t well-received critically or commercially upon its release.

Making this movie might seem like a great business decision, but they forgot that they’d strayed so far from the original story in the first film that the possibility of this movie being anywhere near Lewis Carroll’s 1871 book, Through the Looking Glass, was a fantasy in itself. When I saw the preview and read the reviews, I was already turned off from seeing it.

In the first film, everything was rewritten to make the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) the lead, and the same thing happens here. If you’ve read the book, don’t bother looking for similarities—there aren’t any. For example, the poem "Jabberwocky," which can only be read by viewing it in a mirror, isn’t in this movie. The first book was set in a world of playing cards, and the second in a chess-like world, but that’s not the case here either.

In the first film, you could totally appreciate Tim Burton’s visual style, the awesome lighting, and the depiction of Wonderland, which could give you a visual orgasm. The same applies here.

This movie also features a posthumous performance from the late, great Alan Rickman, who voiced Absolem, the Caterpillar.

Now, the plot of this movie is as follows: a very irresponsible Alice carelessly steals the Chronosphere, which is the heartbeat of time itself. She travels through time in an attempt to save the Mad Hatter.

The Mad Hatter is dying because he discovers his family is still alive and wasn’t killed by the Jabberwocky.

So, we go on an adventure through time, trying to save the Mad Hatter from dying of sadness.

In the end, I wish Disney hadn’t ventured down this path. The movie is boring.

Finding Dory (2016)

Finding Dory

8/10

Starring the voice of

Ellen DeGeneres

Albert Brooks

Hayden Rolence

Ed O'Neill

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Right from the start, when I heard that Andrew Stanton would be back to direct and write this sequel to one of the best animations I’ve ever seen (Finding Nemo (2003)), I was hooked and impatiently waiting to see this movie.

Finding Dory is the long-awaited follow-up to Disney/Pixar’s 2003 computer-animated comedy-adventure, Finding Nemo. At the time of its release, Finding Nemo was number one on the list of highest-grossing animations of all time.

The magic of Finding Nemo lies in its memorable characters, who make up the adventure of a fish searching the entire ocean for his son. Each character had a unique perspective and twist, making the lead characters—Marlin, Dory, and Nemo—fit perfectly as we’re taken on a wonderful journey under the sea.

So, from the get-go, Disney had the characters with a perfect foundation for this sequel. This time, the focus is on Dory, as you could guess from the title, but her new family, Marlin and Nemo, are along for the ride.

Another great thing writer Andrew Stanton did was take Dory’s funny lines and songs (like Just Keep Swimming) from Finding Nemo and weave them into a story set a year after the first movie, highlighting Dory’s journey of remembering her past.

In this movie, we don’t see the sharks or Mike the seagull, but remember Crush the sea turtle and Mr. Ray? Well, they make cameos, as this movie is filled with new characters.

As a huge fan of Dory, I was worried about what would happen to her in this movie, so I didn’t prep—no reading up or watching previews. I went in with fresh eyes and was blown away as Dory went searching for her family. On her journey, she lost her new family, found them again, and lost them once more.

I bit my nails as I watched Dory’s adventure kick off with dreams and flashbacks of her as a child with her parents. Along the way, she meets a new friend: an octopus with seven legs, which she calls a “septopus.”

Finding Dory’s strong box office start puts it well on its way to competing for the title of highest-grossing animation this year. I don’t see Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) putting up much of a fight. However, Finding Dory has a Herculean task ahead, as Disney’s earlier release, Zootopia (2016), has already grossed over a billion dollars.

Now, you can probably tell from the way I’ve been gushing that this movie is fun and awesome to watch. So, don’t delay—head to the cinema with your kids to see this movie. I can guarantee you’ll want to pay it a second visit.